Siv ^K^\i, .i~■^■ ^'y: I'wfc^ \^'ir'-^S^ w^f^^i :m m V ■ ^ %>?;; u'i<.«:' •-r^r-'i^i^r^i ^.^ W-Glari^I\ussell '^mmm /^ -25* OJ^yt^ /Srf/ COLLINGWOOD 4 X . PORTRAIT OF LORD COLLINGAVOOD. COLLINGWOOD BY W. CLARK EUSSELL WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. BRANGWYN METHUEN AND CO., IS, LUEY STREET, W.C. 1891 [All rigid i reserved] R. Clay 4" ^ons, Limital, London S; Bungay. LIIWIAUY UrS'lVEIJSlTY 01 CALIFORI>aA SAlNTA DAUBAItA TO MISS IDA BLACKETT. PEEFACE. What may be termed the " ocean-seclusion " of Lord Collingwood lasted so many yeai'S that there is probably no man of his, or any other time, who rose to eminence and filled a great public position, of whom less is known ; or, as I should prefer to say, about whom less has been written. His contemporaries seldom refer to him. Here and there in the biography of an officer who served under him may be found some dry, insipid, official letters com- municating the proceedings of the ship ; but there are no " asides," so to speak, nothing of that sort of gossip which furuishes to a writer a basis for a theory of character, or which helps him as a glancing of light over a canvas on which the painted lineaments lie liidden in darkness or in dust. The only account of Collingwood with which I am ac- quainted, that aims at any sort of fullness, is the memoir of him written by his son-in-law, G. L. Newnham Collingwood. But it is a very meagre relation, even less useful perhaps than the thin narrative of the Admiral's career which was X PREFACE. published in the 15th volume of the Naval Chronicle. It is little more than a thread desijjned bv the able gentleman who penned it, for the stringing together into the best attainable form of coherency of a large number of Colling- wood's letters. Much of the man may be gathered from these letters, but not all, not nearly all, that one could wish to know. We obtain but the briefest glimpse of him on board ship. Nothing that is specially characteristical of a most noble, gallant, and original nature is indicated or preserved ; I mean in those directions to which CoUing- wood would not think of referring in writing to his wife, to his father-in-law, and others. And then, again, there is little doubt that Newnham Collingwood suppressed much, and revised and sub-edited much, which, in its entirety, would have enabled us to gain a clearer view of his great relative than his anxiety not to offend the living — for his volumes were printed in 1828 — suffers us to obtain. Yet Collingwood's Memoir and Coo'respondence is an excellent book, and posterity owes the memory of the son- in-law of the Admiral a large debt of gratitude for compil- ing and issuing it. Many of the letters are compositions of wonderful elegance and spirit, full of high and wise thoughts, of prudential deliverances, uttered in a style so captivating that one is tempted to think that if Collingwood had not been foremost amongst the greatest naval Captains and Commanders-in-Chief of his time, he would have led the van — and not the van of the lee division either ! — of the best writers of his age. I have not scrupled to quote freely from these delightful letters. Newnham Colling- wood's book is not known as it should be; it has not, to my PREFACE. XI knowledge, been reprinted for many years ; to naval students it is of course a flimiliar work ; but the average reader can scarcely, I think, be called a naval student, and it may be quite likely that he is not acquainted with Collingwood's letters ; therefore, whoever gives him a substantial helping from this rich repast, cannot, I think, but be greatly obliging and improving him. I am happy, however, in being able to add to the published correspondence of Lord Collingwood. A number of original letters, addressed by him to Sir Edward Blackett, Bart., whose niece Lord Collingwood married, are in the possession of Sir Edward's great-grandson, John Blackett, Esq., late R.N., of Thorpe Lea, Egham, Surrey, and his courtesy privileges me to communicate them for the first time to the public. My thanks are also due to Joseph Cowen, Esq., of Stella Hall, Blaydon-on-Tyne ; to Robert Blair, Esq., of North Shields ; to W. E. Adams, Esq., of the Neiucastle WccMy Chronicle; and to Richard Ruddock, Esq., of Nevvcastle-on-Tyne. So much being said, this story of the career of a great British Sailor goes forth to plead for itself I have spared no pains to obtain original information; but Collingwood has been dead eighty years. Local tradition is silent about him. Indeed, it is not too much to say that very few people in and round about Morpeth, where his house was, appear to have any knowledge even of the name of Collingwood. An old resident writes: " Lord C. was always spoken of as a man of plain, simple habits, who often walked down to my grandmother's, and stood with his back to the fire for a long gossip. He was fond of his garden, and had some trees Xll PREFACE. planted on Lord Carlisle's castle banks, which could be then seen from his house. I remember best his gardener." Much as I am obliged for such communications, the reader will not require to be told that something more is needed to make out, and to make up, the story of a man's life. W. Clark Russell. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Birth- — Family — Education — Moises — Lord Eldon — Goes to Sea — Brathwaite — Old Sliips — Old Navigation — Sails for Boston — Bunker's Hill — Court-martial — Nelson — West Indies — San Juan Expedition — Shipwreck — ^Wilfred Colling^vood — ]\Iarriage — The Blacketts— Morpeth— With Lord Howe . . p. 3 CHAPTER II. Skirmishing — The Barfleur — Hood at Toulon — Fleet sails — Codring- ton on Howe — Howe before the Battle — Collingwood's Account of the 1st of June — No Medal — Molloy of the Ccesar — Sir Eoger Curtis' Letter — Collingwood's Grief and Mortification p. 26 CHAPTER III. Convoying — Action of Jidy 13th — Narrow Escape — Sir John Jervis —Queer Sliips' Companies — War with Spain — Anecdote of CoUingwood — Fine Spectacle of Ships — Colliugwood and Nelson — Calder's Comment — Collingwood's Modesty — Testi- mony to his Valour — Two Medals conferred — Collin^wood on Nelson — OfE Cadiz — Mutiny — Collingwood's Mercifulness — An Aliecdote . . . . . . p. 46 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Treatment of Sailors — The " Cat " — Anecdote of Clavell — Anecdotes of Collingwood's Humanity — Amusements atSea — Bad Language — Anecdotes of Lord St. Vincent — Nelson detached to Mediter- ranean — Indignation of Admirals Orde and Parker — Uneasy Feeling in Fleet — Collingwood's Views — Battle of the Nile — Return to England — At Morpeth — Joins the Fleet under Lord Bridport — Sent to the Mediterranean — With Lord Keith p. 66 CHAPTER V. Blockading — Lord St. Vincent in Conmiand — Seizure of the Dana. — Fears of Mutiny — Collingwood on St. Vincent — System of Blockading — Collingwood and his Wife and Child — Mrs. Colling- wood's Letter — ^Sailors' Wives — Admiral Cornwallis in Command —Mutiny — Newspaper Paragraphs — A Picture — Collingwood Descrihed . . . , . . p. 86 CHAPTER VI. Peace — Morpeth — Acorns — Old Linc-of-Battlc Ship — Leaves Home for Last Time — Blockading — Unseaworthy Ships — Nelson — A " Tight Squeeze " — Codrington on Collingwood — Captain Duff — Anecdotes — "Salt Junk and Sixpenny" — Collingwood's In- come — Nelson joins the Fleet— -Collingwood's part in the Order of Battle— Trafalgar .... p. 109 CHAPTER VII. Description of Trafalgar — Royal Sovereign in Action — Collingwood's Modesty — Characteristic Anecdotes — Rotheram — Nelson's Signal — Lieutenant Clavell — Young Aikenhcad — Hardy— Deatli of Nelson — Affecting Story — Admiral Alava — Captain Israel Pollew — Villeneuvo's Sword — Villeneuvo described — Collingwood's Dispatch — Stormy Weather ... p. 135 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER VIII. Fresh Attempt — Rewards — Parliamentary Votes — Newnham Collins- wood — Letters to Lady Colliugwood — A Nelson Memorial — Young Sea-Officers — Codrington on Collingwood — Fresh Com- mission — Dumanoir's Squadron — Familiar Letters — Novelists' Sailors — Position of Commander-in-Cluef in Mediterranean — Letter from the Queen of Naples — Sir John Duckworth — Action off San Domingo— Enemy's Force , . p. 161 CHAPTER IX. Letters to his Wife — Property bequeathed — Pension — Life on Board Ship — Purity of Collingwood 's Cliaracter — Resolutions of Con- quest — Education of his Cliildren^ — Lady Collingwood — Lone- liness — Morpeth — Portugal — Sir Sidney Smith — Battle of Maida — Fall of Gaeta — Admiral Louis dispatched to the Dardanelles — Expedition under Sir Thomas Duckworth . p. 184 CHAPTER X. Loss of the Ajax — Blackwood's Grievance — Court-martial — Duck- worth at the Dardanelles — Failure of Expedition — Confinement on Shipboard — Collingwood at the Dardanelles— Turkish Feast Proceedings of the Squadron — Russian Admiral Siniavin — Captain Jalheel Brenton — Anecdotes — A Charming Letter — Force of the Enemy — Gantheaume sails — Watched by Brenton — James on Collingwood — -Incident of the Standard p. 207 CHAPTER XI. Still searching — General Order — Observations on General Order — Fruitless Pursuit — Return to Cadiz — Health — Reception by Spaniards — Off Toulon — Convention of Cintra — Prince Leopold — Lord Mulgrave's Offer .... p. 232 CHAPTER XII. Forecastle Superstition — Major-General of Marines — Queen of Naples — Baudin — Admiral jNIartin's Engagement with Enemy — Col- lingwood's Gratification — Resigns Command — Death — Funeral — Lady Collingwood's Death — Posthumous Honours — Colling- wood's Character ..... p. 252 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Collingwood . . . Frontispiece. H.M.S. ColUmjwood ...... 2 Portrait of Lady Collingwood ..... 19 Collingwood in Excellent off St. Vincent helping Nelson . 55 Line-of-Battle Ship blockading off Brest . . .91 Nelson and Collingwood at the Fountain Inn . . .99 Old Admiral, hunting for Collingwood, linds him digging with his gardener — Old Scott . . . . .111 Collingwood and his first lieutenant, Clavell, asleep on a gun- breech, worn-out after blockading . . .117 Royal Sovereign going into Action .... 137 Gale after Trafalgar . . . . . .157 H.M.S. Rvyal Sovereign . . . . .191 Collingwood coming on Deck . . . . . 213 • • ' A Q O o a 13 ^^ O O COLLINGWOOD. CHAPTER I. Birth — Family — Education — Moises — Lord Eldon — Goes to Sea — Brathwaite —Old Ships- Old Navigation — Sails for Boston — Bunker's Hill — ^ Court-Martial— Nelson— West M Indies — San Juan Expedition — Ship- wreck — Wilfred Collingwood — Mar- riage • — The Blacketts — Morpeth — With Lord Howe. UTHBERT COLLINGWOOD was born in the year 1748 at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in a street called the Side. The house where he first saw the liirht still stands : it is •of brick, three stories high, with a basement ; and it was no doubt in its day a genteel, commodious residence. Since Collingwood's time, however, it has been gutted by fire and put to somewhat base uses — hired for the sale of tobacco, of liquor, of old clothes, and it has, I believe, been a tramps' lodging-house. The entry of Collingwood's baptism in the register of 4 COLLINCrWOOD. the Church of St. Nicholas at Newcastle-on-Tyne runs thus : " 1748. October 24, Cuthhcrt, son of CuMcrt Golling- wood, Merchant, and MiJcali, his ivifc!' His family was one of the most ancient in Northumber- land. The Collingwoods in their generations had numbered amongst them Border Chieftains and Cavaliers, Kings' Commissioners, County Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace.^ Royalty itself is imported into the genealogy, and the son- in-law of Lord Collingwood boldly introduces us to the Earl of Kent, Joan of Plantagenet, King Edward I., and the Black Prince as ancestors of the Admiral.^ We shall be going far enough back for all purposes if we start with our hero's father, Cuthbert Collingwood, who married Milcah, daughter of Reginald Dobson of Barwise, in West- moreland, and had by her three sons and four or five daufrhters, Cuthbert beinrj the eldest of the sons. Mr. Collingwood in his youth was bound apprentice to a Merchant Adventurer and Boothman in Newcastle, and after obtaining his freedom, started in business in that house in the Side where his son, the future admiral, was born. He was unfortunate, and his affairs were wound up. His creditors were distillers, oilmen, soap-boilers, druggists, and so forth, whence the character of his busi- ness may be inferred. It was manifestly a hard struggle for the parents, and but for the assistance of friends they must have found it difficult to feed, clothe, and educate their large family. The father died in February 1775, and the property that hail been mortgaged for the benefit of the widow, when sold by her, realized nine hundred pounds,^ so that, as we may see, Cuthbert, when he began 1 Richard Welford : Newcastle Monthhj Clironicle. - Collingwood' s Public ami Private Correspondence, by G. L. Newii- ham Collingwood, 1829, p. 3. ' J. Clayton in Archocologia ^liana. MOISES. 5 his sea career, had little or nothing to expect in the shape of money-help from his home. Education was happily cheap at Newcastle-on-Tyne in those days, as it still is. Cuthbert was sent to the Grammar School, the head-master of which was the Reverend Hugh Moises, a person whose fame as a teacher was more than local; for it was related by Lord Eldon that when George III. read CoUiugwood's account of the Battle of Trafalgar he expressed surprise that a naval officer should be able to write so excellent a dispatch ; " but," added the King, " I find he was educated by Moises." ^ The two Scotts, John and William, afterwards 1 Twiss's Life of Lord Melon, vol. ii. p. 119. The eloquent Mr, Joseph Cowen, for many years senior Member for Newcastle-on-Tyne, has been good enough to send me the following interesting note on Moises : — " Beyond the mural monument in St. Nicholas' Church, there is no visible memorial of Mr. Moises in Newcastle. He is only known to the present generation as the schoolmaster of Lords Eldon, Stowell, and Collingwood ; of Sir Robert Chambers, the Indian judge ; Brand, the antiquarian ; and Burdon, the philosopher. Yet in his day he was a man of great influence, and engaged a large share of public attention. Half a century ago his name was one to conjure with. His authority was acknowledged, and his opinions deferred to on all local and literary subjects. Mr. Moises was a born teacher. He loved his profession, and he laboured in it with enthusiasm. He had the faculty of constituting himself the companion as well as the master of his pupils. He was a strong disciplinarian, and, when in school, was supreme. He took his seat at his desk with as much dignity as a judge takes his seat upon the Bench, Every one bowed to him. But when their tasks were over, his relations with his scholars were of the most cordial character. He in- vited them to his house, assisted them with their lessons, walked with them in the country, and counselled them not only as to the work of the day, but as to the work of their lives. He advised his pupils to read only the works of great authors as much with the view of learning their style as their doctrines. He had himself a passion for the classics, but he always strove to ascertain the special aptitude of his scholars, and urged them to pursue only such studies as they were likely to excel in. A friend of mine, when a boy, was engaged with Mr. Moises after he left the Grammar School. He spoke of him 6 COLLING WOOD. Lords Eklou and Stowell, were amongst CoUiugwood's schoolfellows under Moises. No youth ever profited more from his school. His diligence still lingers as a tradition. Probably when he went to sea his Greek and Latin were hove overboard ; I find few or no hints of an acquaintance with those languages in his letters ; but in general know- ledge there was probably not a man in the Service throuirhout his Ions career that could have matched him. He loved books, and suffered nothing but his professional duties to interrupt the delight they yielded him. He was perfectly well informed in what may be called polite letters, was a student of everything good in Englislt literature, and had such an art of expressing himself with his pen as brings many of his letters in polish, sweetness of language, and archness of humour, very close to some of the happiest compositions of Addison. His fine taste was the gift of nature, but Moises must claim the merit of cultivating and directinsj it. I have been unable to collect any anecdotes of Colling- wood's school-days. Lord Eldon would speak of him as having been " a pretty boy." " Collingwood," said the Earl, " at school was a mild boy ; he was in the same class as my brother Harry ; but he did not then give promise of being the great man he afterwards became ; he did not show any remarkable talents then. Lord Collingwood and I," Lord Eldon told the Hon. Henry Legge soon after the Battle of Trafalgar, " are memorable instances of the blessings to be derived from the country of our birth and the constitution under which we live. He and I were with unbounded admiration. His youtliful admiration was most impressed with Mr. Moises' gentleness and generosity. The good old man was at every one's call, and he sliowed his kindness, not merely in aiding deserving persons with money (according to his means), but with [what is more dilHcult to give — useful service and advice." GOES TO SEA. 7 class-fellows at Newcastle. We were placed at that school because neither his father nor mine could afford to place us elsewhere ; and now if he returns to this country to take his seat in the House of Lords it will be my duty to express to him, sitting in his place, the thanks of that House (to which neither of us could expect to be elevated) for his eminent services to his country. " ^ The quality of reserve we find in his manhood he probably possessed as a lad, and it would be heightened in him by the sensitiveness that poverty creates. Yet poverty might have helped him, too, by causing him to be determined in his studies. It was certain that whatever his future was to hold must be of his own manufacture ; this the quiet, high-spirited lad would understand, and the perception that made his career noble in after days for valour and for dutifulness, animated him as a lad to the degree of rendering him one of the most resolved, patient, and honest scholars that the old Grammar School of Newcastle ever dismissed into the world. It is not stated that he exhibited as a lad any marked taste for the sea, though born in a district that has been famous for centuries for its breed of sailors, and that is charged with scores of just such maritime inspirations as would fix the fancies of a boy whose leaning was in any desree oceanwards. A sister of his mother had married Captain, afterwards Admiral, Brathwaite, and no doubt this connection caused Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbert Collingwood to choose the sea as a profession for their son, Brathwaite had entered the naval service in 1743 under the patronage of his relative, Sir Chaloner Ogle, and on the recommend- ation of Sir Edward Hawke was made lieutenant in 1755. A year later he was promoted Commander, and in the 1 Twiss's Life of Eldon, passim. 8 COLLINGWOOD. spring of 1761 posted into the Shannon frigate.^ In a notice of his services, written by himself, dated January 7th, 1806, Collingwood says : " I went into the Navy at a very early period of my life, in the year 1761, in the Shannon, under the protection and care of a kind friend and relation, the late Admiral Brathwaite; to whose regard for me, and to the interest which he took in whatever related to my improvement in nautical knowledge, I owe great obli orations." ^ He entered as a volunteer. In the memoir published by his son-in-law, it is said that when he first went on board the Shannon he sat crying over his separation from home. The first lieutenant observed him, and " pitying the tender years of the poor child," addressed a few words of encouragement and kindness to him. The boy was so grateful that he took the officer to his sea-chest and offered him a large piece of plum-cake which his mother had stowed away with his clothes. ^ For a number of years young Collingwood continued with Brathwaite, first in the Shannon, then in the Gibraltar, and afterwards in the Liverpool. In a narrative of his life, published in 1806, it is stated that he served as midship- man in the Gibraltar in 1766, and as master's mate in the Liverpool from 1767 to 1772. He was then taken into the 1 He (lied Admiral of the White, June 28th, 1805, at Greenwich, aged 80. 2 Naval Chronicle, vol. xxiii. p. 380. 3 Correspondence and Memoir, p. 6. Mr. J. Chiyton remarks upon this : " In Mr. Newnham CoUinfjwood's Biorjraphy, Cuthbert Colling- wood is stated to have been only eleven years old, which is obviously an error, and the anecdote of his having invited the first lieutenant to eat plum-cake with him in his berth is more likely to liave really occurred if he had been in fact eleven years old instead of thirteen, his actual age." But even at the mature age of thirteen, boys have been known to cry on leaving home, and to share their cakes with those wh were kind and sympathizing. OLD SHIPS AND NAVIGATION. 9 Lenox, guard-ship at Portsmouth, commanded by Captain Roddam, who also received his brother Wilfred. Koddam was one of the most seasoned mariners of his day. He was at sea in the Loivestoffe frigate some thirty-six or thirty-seven years before young Collingwood joined the Lenox, had served in expeditions in the West Indies under Vernon, had experienced as a prisoner of war the horrors of a San Domingo jail, and in one fashion or another had seen or suffered pretty nearly everything that entered into the vocation of the sea in those wild, excitinof, fis[htin Jervis's force consisted now of 15 instead of 16 sail of the line. On the 19th of August in the preceding year, Nelson had written to the Duke of Clarence : " As to our fleet, under such a commander-in-chief as Sir John Jervis, nobody has any fears. ... I will venture my life Sir John Jervis defeats them ; I do not mean by a regular battle, but by the skill of our Admiral, and the activity and spirit of our officers and seamen." ^ Lieutenant Parsons, who was a midshipman on board the Barjleur in the Battle of St. Vincent, introduces us to CoUingwood at this time in a humorous experience of his- own, which must be introduced in a work that aspires mainly to present the character of the hero of it : *' We, one morning," he says, referring to an early day before the battle, " went on board the Excellent, Captain Cuthbert CoUingwood, not then so celebrated as he afterwards became, and I being tired of seeing John Marlingspike and Tom Kattling smooth down his front hair and hitch up his trousers preparatory to scraping his feet with his best sea jerk as he passed in review before the bigwigs, and pressed to go down by a brother ndd. who felt proud of feasting the Vice-Admiral's ^ aide-de-camp — I forgetting my proud station, stole from the Vice-Admiral's side, and was well employed in stowing my hold, in the most ex- peditious manner, with beef and pudding, when all at once I heard : ' Pass the word for the Vice-Admiral's midship- man ; his Admiral and Captain are towing alongside waiting for him.' This alarming information nearly caused me to choke by endeavouring to swallow a large piece of ^ Nelson's Dhpatches and Letters, vol. ii. p. 246. 2 Vice-Adniiral the Hon. William Waldegrave, afterwards Lord Radstock. FINE SPECTACLE OF SHIPS. 53 pudding I had in my mouth, and with my cocked hat placed on my head the wrong way, I crossed the hawse of Captain Collingwood, who, calling me a young scamp and some other hard names, which I have Ions: since for- given, assured me in not a very friendly tone he would treat me with a dozen by marrying me to the gunner's daughter." ^ Collingwood's name as a taut disciplinarian would no doubt be familiar to young Parsons, and his fears might well account for the haste, as he tells us, with which he leaped into the boat alongside, crushing his Captain's old- fashioned cocked hat as he alighted. During the night of the 13th of Febniary some heavy guns were heard to windward. It was thick on the morning of the 14th; but at about the hour of half-past six, the Culloden signalled five sail in sight, and by nine o'clock in the morning, when the fog had lifted, a fleet of 81 sail altogether had been counted from the masthead of the Victory, Jervis' ship. Parsons tells us that the British ships formed one of the most beautiful and close lines ever beheld. On the other hand, the Spanish fleet is described as having made the most awkward attempts to form their line of battle. " They looked a complete forest huddled together ; their commander-in-chief, covered Avith signals and running free on his leeward line, used his utmost endeavours to get them into order; but they seemed confusion worse confounded." ^ Yet their very disorder heightened the magnificence of the picture they submitted to the gaze of the British. The towering Santissima Trinidad loomed in colossal pro- portions amongst them : she was the largest ship at that time afloat, and Brenton, in writing of her years after, ^ Nelsonian Reminiscences, by G. S. Parsons, Lieut. K.K, p. 319. ^ Parsons, p. 323. 54 COLLING WOOD. seems to hold his breath as though with astonishment and awe induced by recollection of her dimensions ! This grand fleet of Spain Avas under the command of Admiral Don Josef de Cordova. His flag-ship, the Santissima, carried 130 guns; several others were of 112, two of 80, and the remainder 74's. Collingwood's share in this battle is in great part to be read in the story of Nelson's brilliant achievement. It is doubtful, indeed, whether Nelson would have captured his two huge Spaniards without the help of Collingwood. Colonel Drinkwater, who watched the battle from the deck of the Lively frigate, says, referring to the behaviour of Colling- wood in passing on to the support of Nelson's ship, the Captain : " His interference here was opportune, as the continual and long fire of the Gaptain had almost expended the ammunition she had at hand, and the loss of her fore- topmast and other injuries she had received in her rigging, had rendered her nearly ungovernable," ^ The Excellent, after engaging the Salvador-del-Mundo for a few minutes, headed for the next Spanish ship, the San^ Ysklro, and closely engaged her for some twenty minutes, until she hauled down her colours ; then passed on to the 80-gun ship San Nicolas, with which huge craft Nelson was in hot action. Steering within a few feet of the San Nicolas' starboard side, Collingwood poured in a heavy and destructive fire, then filled and stood on, in obedience to the signal at that time flying. This is the historian's cold review of the proceedings of the Excellent; but one discovers the true theory of Collingwood's noble conduct in the letter that Nelson afterwards wrote to him, and in the narrative which he sent to the Duke of Clarence : "My dearest friend," Nelson said, "'a friend in need is a friend indeed' was never more truly verified than by your 1 Narrative of the Battle of St. Vincent, 1840, p, 40. ^f rt i M^ 'i*%r. ,- H 3 J Colliugwood iu Excellent off St. Vincent helping Nelson.— p. 54. 1 \ calder's comment. 57 raost noble and gallant conduct yesterday in sparing the Captain from further loss; and I beg, both as a public officer and as a friend, you will accept my most sincere thanks." And to the Duke of Clarence Nelson Avrote : " Captain Collingwood, disdaining the parade of taking possession of beaten enemies, most gallantly pushed up with every sail set to save his old friend and messmate, who was, to all appearance, in a critical situation, the CajJtain being actually fired upon by three first-rates and the San Nicolas, the 74 within about pistol-shot distance of the San Nicolas. The Blenheim being ahead, and the Cullodcn crippled and astern, the Excellent ranged up, and hauling up her mainsail just astern, passed within ten feet of the San Nicolas, giving her a most awful and tremendous fire." ^ The gallant Jervis appreciated to the full Nelson's and Collingwood's spontaneous manoeuvre. His first Captain (Calder) suggested, in the course of a conversation with Jervis, that the behaviour of Nelson and Collingwood was an unauthorized departure by Nelson, in the first instance, from the prescribed mode of attack. " It certainly was so," replied Jervis, " and if ever you commit such a breach of your orders, I will forgive you also." - Collingwood's pride in and appreciation of Jervis' skill are indicated in a sentence included in a letter from Nelson to the Admiral : " A letter from a humbler pen came to me at Gibraltar — Collingwood ; and his sentiments are, I am confident, those of the whole fleet — 'I have a crreat desire our Admiral should be a Marquis this summer; his bright honours will reflect on all of us,' " ^ There is a letter from Lady Collingwood, addressed to ^ Correspondence and Memoir of Lord Collingwood, pp. 40 — 41. 2 Tucker's Memoirs of Earl St. Vincent, vol. i. p. 263. ' Nelson's DisjMtches and Letters, vol. ii. p. 389. 58 COLLING WOOD. Sir Edward Blackett, referring to this memorable Battle of St. Vincent, that remarkably exhibits the wonderful modesty of Collingwood. The part he had borne in tlie battle wanted indeed the brilliance, one might almost call it the theatrical brilliance, of Nelson's achievement, to which the Excellent had materially contributed ; yet those who carefully study the details of the fight will discover that the services rendered by the Excellent were not less splendid and remarkable than those performed by the Captain. Certainly Nelson took no pains to conceal the part that he had borne in that day ; he writes enthusi- astically of his own performances to friends ranging from the Duke of Clarence down to William Suckling. The egotism of these letters is sublime indeed, but egotism it is all the same. Lady Collingwood writes thus to her uncle : " Charlotte Square, Newcastle, '' ''March Utii, 1797. "I return you and my aunt many thanks for your very kind letter of congratulations on the late glorious victory, and on the safety of my husband, who has indeed gained great honour on that day, and I feel not a little thankful and proud in being wife of so deserving a man, and I trust he will be preserved to be a comfort and happi- ness to his wife and family. I intended to have sent you a copy of my husband's letter, with an account of the victory, but I find you have heard from him. He inclosed some letters he had received of thanks for his gallant conduct from Captain Grey (Sir John Jervis' second captain), Commodore Nelson, and Admiral Waldegrave and Captain Dacres, his captain. My husband desired I would not show them, but they are such flattering marks of approbation that I cannot resist copying them on the other side for your perusal and my aunt's; but you will be TESTIMONY TO HIS VALOUR. 59 SO good as not to show them, as it was my husband's desire. When you have read them you will not wonder at my wishing you and Lady Blackett to see them." ^ Mr. Newnham Collingwood has printed these testi- monies to Collingwood 's professional skill and noble behaviour, but they must also find a place in these pages. Captain J. W. Dacres wrote, dating from the Barficur on the day following the action : " I have just time to request you will accept of my congratulations upon the immortal honour gained by the Excellent yesterday. The Admiral joins very sincerely in my ideas. God bless you, and may we all imitate you. Yours ever sincerely." Admiral Waldegrave wrote thus : " My dear Collingwood — Although Dacres has in a great degree, expressed all I feel on the subject, yet I cannot resist the satisfaction of telling you myself that nothing in my opinion could exceed the spirit and true officership which you so happily displayed yester- day. Both the Admiral and Nelson join with me in this opinion, and nothing but ignorance or a bad heart can think otherwise. God bless you, my good friend, and may England long possess such men as yourself ! 'Tis saying everything for her glory." Nelson's letter I have already quoted in part. Captain Grey's contribution to this applause savours somewhat of officialism after the warm- hearted letters of Nelson and Dacres and Waldegrave. He names the ships which had struck, and says he is desired by the Admiral (Jervis) to mention how sensible he is of Captain Collingwood's gallant conduct, with that of his officers and ship's company, and every other ship in the fleet. Medals were distributed on this occasion. One might figure Swift musing upon an engraving of this medal, ' • 1 Original in possession of Miss Blackelt. 60 C'OLLINGWOOD. reading that the flag-officer's was to be suspended by a blue and white ribband round the neck, and the captain's in the third and fourth button-hole on the left side, moralizing upon the heart-burnings caused by this symbol of victorious combat, and introducing some philosopher out of tlie territory of Laputa or the tribe of the Yahoos to deliver his views on the circle of gold stamped with the representation of Britannia in the act of being crowned by some quite Hogarthian theory of a winged goddess. Yet was the medal the professional pole-star of that age. The sailor steered his course by it ; legs, limbs, and eyes were light in comparison with it. Indeed, with many it would have weighed more than the head itself could it have happened that the time had passed when, if the brains were out, the man would die. On Lord St. Vincent informino; Collingwood that he was to receive a medal for the 14th of February, he answered with emotion that he would not consent to take one whilst a medal for the 1st of June was withheld from him. " I feel," he exclaimed nobly, " that I was then improperly passed over; and to receive such a distinction now would be to acknowledge the propriety of that injustice," St. Vincent replied : " That is precisely the answer which I expected from you, Captain Collingwood." Both medals were sent to him. It would seem from Lord Spencer's letter, in which their transmission was announced, tliat Collingwood's claim for a medal for the Glorious First had been admitted some months before the Battle of St. Vincent. The apology is awkward and insufficient. " I congi'atulate you most sincerely," said Lord Spencer, " on having the good fortune to bear so conspicuous a part on two such glorious occa- sions, and have troubled you with tliis letter only to say that the former medal would have been transmitted to TWO MEDALS CONFERRED. 61 you some months ago if a proper conveyance had been found for it." There is every reason to believe that the 1st of June medal would not have been sent had the Battle of St. Vincent never been fought, or its medal not been deserved by CoUingwood ; yet Lord Spencer distinctly mentions the conspicuous part CoUingwood acted on the 1st of June ! Sir John Barrow is very angry with CoUing- wood for having said, in a letter dated February 22nd, 1797 : " I cannot help feeling an almost spiteful satis- faction that Lord Howe is outdone. His 1st of June (grand as it was) bears no proportion in any respect to this." But viewing the matter from Collingwood's stand- point, it is impossible not to sympathize with this ex- pression of scornful elation. " The observation," says Sir John Barrow, " is only that of an angry man, and is worth nothing more." ^ The observation is that of a wronged man, and has all the significance that can be communicated by the emotions of a fine spirit vexed and depressed by neglect. Collingwood's description of Nelson's heroic conduct in the Battle of St. Vincent is full of generous appreciation and sincere admiration : " After I had driven the San Nicolas on board the San Joseph, and left them on their fire ceasing to be taken possession of by somebody behind, they fell on board my good friend the Commodore, and as they had not surrendered, he, in his own little active person (for he could almost go through an alderman's thumb-ring), at the head of his ship's company, boarded them, driving the Spaniards from deck to deck at the point of their swords ; and they at last both surrendered, and the Commodore, on the deck of the Spanish first-rate San Joseph, received the swords of the officers of the two ships; while a Johnny, one of the sailors, bundled them 1 L\je of Lord Hoive, p. 242. G'2 COLLING WOOD. up with the same composure he would have made a faggot, and 22 of their line still within gunshot. We have had the Spanish Heet off here to look at since we came in ; but I dare say they would rather see us at a distance than near. The Spaniards always carry their patron saint to sea with them. I have given St, Ysidore a berth in my cabin — tlie least I could do for him after he had consigned his charge to me. It is a good jiicture, as you will see, when he comes to Morpeth." ^ For the next two years Collingwood remained with the fleet under Jervis watching Cadiz. It would weary the reader to follow closely the incidents of the tedious weeks and months of blockading. So early as June 1797, we find him complaining of the wretchedness of incessant shipboard life : " I had the pleasure," he writes to his father-in-law, " to receive your letter, and am quite happy to hear that Sarah, our children, and all your family are doing well. This is the only thing like comfort that can reach us here ; for it is a dreary life we lead, jDent up in a sliip for such a length of time. God help us ! There is nothing to gratify the mind but the hope that we may render essential service to our country, and the conscious- ness that we deserve it." - In this time the mutiny at the Nore had happened, and it was not long before 1 This passage is quoted in a letter from Mr. J. E. P.lackett to his l>rother, Sir Edward, dated at Newcastle, 15th March, 1797. lie writes: ' ' I had a letter from Captain. Collingwood by this day's post, dated Lagos, 22nd February. He was very well, and in a part of his letter eays," &c. On comparing this fragment with the text of Colling- •wood's communication as it is to be found at page 38 of the Corre- spondence and Memoir, it will be seen that Mr. Newnham Colling- wood, the Editor, has erased two or three highly characteristic sentences ; whence it is to be feared that he may have practised the f^ame art of " improvement " on others, if not on all of Collin^wood's letters. 2 Correspondence and Memoir, p. 47. MUTINY. 63 there was disaffection among the crews of the ships cruising off Cadiz. It is said that in the months of May and June some letters were brought from home by the Alcmene frigate ; they were addressed to the captains of the forecastle and other non-commissioned officers, were well expressed, and written in a clear and business-like hand. One of these letters came to the knowledge of Captain Dacres of the Barjicur, who immediately dis- patched an officer to Lord St. Vincent for instructions. The Commander-in-Chief ordered the intercepted letters to be given to the persons to whom they were addressed. Two men belonging to the St. George had been tried for a breach of the 29th Article of War. The ship's company riotously demanded that they should be set at liberty; two of the officers rushed at the men, who bundled head- long below, leaving their principals behind them — four seamen, who were forthwith conveyed prisoners to the Villc de Paris, that had recently arrived to receive St. Vincent's flag. The unfortunate men were tried next day, Saturday, and hanged at nine o'clock next morning.^ This decisive measure effected much, but not every- thing. In point of discipline, however, the Excellent was unquestionably the model ship of the fleet. It was St. Vincent's frequent practice to draft the worst and the most menacing of the seamen into her. " Send them to Collingwood," he used to say, "and he will bring them to order." Yet there was probably no captain afloat who was more sparing in the use of the lash — the odious in- strument with which the morals and opinions of the pig- tailed mariner were chastened and directed. It was Collingwood's custom to keep a record of the punishment be inflicted, and from the table printed by the editor of his correspondence, I find that in the year 1793 the greatest ' Brenton's Life of the Earl of St. Vincent, vol. i. pp. 363-4. G4 COLLING WOOD. number of lashes ordered from May 21st down to September 12tli was twelve — in two instances twelve; first for the culprit absenting himself from duty; second for dis- obedience of orders in bringing liquor into the ship and contemptuous behaviour. The lowest number was six. Captain Brenton is astonished by Collingwood's merciful- ness. " "What shall we say," cries this old-fashioned officer, whose books with their anecdotes, their egotism, their obsolete views, and above all their predictions, are to say the least as amusing as any old sea-story — " What shall we say," he cries, " to the officer who, having turned the hands up and gone through all the ceremony of punish- ment — quartermaster's gratings, foxes, cats, and boatswain's mates — gives to the most atrocious of these offenders twelve lashes, and to the least six ? I am no friend to punishment, but I must say that here Captain Collingwood showed himself to be the most unfit man in the navy to have charge of such a ruffian as we have seen described." St, Vincent thought otherwise. Probably Brenton himself would change his opinion could he rise from his grave, step aboard an ironclad, and observe the sort of discipline that is now contrived without any assistance from foxes, cats, or boatswain's mates. The ruffian to whom he refers was a seaman that had been sent to the Excellent from the Romulus. This man had loaded a forecastle gun, and so pointing it as to command the quarter-deck, stood by it with a match, swearing that he would fire at the officers unless a promise was made him that he should not be punished. Collingwood, on the scoundrel's arrival, is represented to have addressed him thus : " I know your character well, but beware how you attempt to excite insubordination in this ship, for I have such confidence in my men " (many of whom were listening) " that lam certain I shall hear HIS MERCIFULNESS. 65 in an hour of everything you are doing. If you behave well in future I will treat you like the rest, nor notice here what hajjpened in another ship ; but if you endeavour to excite mutiny, mark me well ! I will instantly head you up in a cask and throw you into the sea." ^ That this was said I do not for a moment doubt ; that it was meant is quite another matter. The forecastle sea- lawyer was not in existence in those days ; Collingwood might rely on the fellow not knowing whether this threat of a cask could or could not be executed ; he meant to have the benefit of his fears, very well aware that there was the yard-arm as well as the cask, and that the alternative provided him with all he needed. ^ Correspondence and Memoir, p. 50. CHAPTER IV. Treatment of Sailors — The " Cat " — Anecdote of Clavell — Anecdotes of Collingwood's Humanity — Amusements at Sea — Bad Language — Anecdotes of Lord St. Vincent — Nelson detached to Mediter- ranean — Indignation of Admirals Orde and Parker — Uneasy Feeling in Fleet — Collingwood's Views — Battle of the Nile — Eeturn to England — At Morpeth — Joins the Fleet under Lord Bridport — Sent to the Mediterranean — With Lord Keith. CH of the muti- neering spirit amongst the sailors in the Royal Navy at this time was due to bad food, and, in many ships, to an abominably cruel discij)line. I have somewhere read of a captain whose practice was to flo